Remutaka (New Zealand electorate)

Remutaka (spelled Rimutaka until 2020) is an electorate returning one member to the New Zealand House of Representatives.

Since the 2008 general election, the seat has been represented by Chris Hipkins, who served as Prime Minister of New Zealand and is currently the Leader of the Opposition.

[2] Of those employed at the 2018 census, 13.7% were clerical and administrative workers (the highest proportion of any general electorate), 11.3% were community and personal service workers (the sixth-highest), and 11.3% worked in the public administration and safety sector (the third-highest share).

The main means of travel to work for 12.5% of the employed population of Remutaka was by train, the third-highest share among general electorates and over six times the New Zealand average (2.0%).

[2] Rimutaka was created in 1996 ahead of the change to Mixed Member Proportional voting.

Eastern Hutt had been held by Labour's Paul Swain since 1990, while Heretaunga had been won by National's Peter McCardle in 1990.

Swain was the clear winner in every election from 1996 to 2005; the inclusion of the working-class areas of Hutt City helped make Rimutaka safer for the Labour Party, though on the campaign trail in 2008, Labour's chances for winning both party vote and the electorate were summarised as: "Labour support is 'rock solid' in the south of the electorate but things are volatile in Upper Hutt, where there is 'still work to do'".

In the 2019/2020 boundary review, the Representation Commission renamed the electorate Remutaka in line with this name change.

1 McCardle was the National MP for Heretaunga from 1990 to 1996 Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote.

Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent.